Wiki Non payment for consults

eivor

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Please I need help....I am new to an Ophthalmology practice and stumbled across a ton of denials for consults (Medicare and Blue Cross).
The claims were billed as follows:
Example #1 99204 - no modifier
92285 - no modifier
67840 - no modifier
Example #2
99204 - no modifier
92285 - no modifier
68840 - no modifier
31231 - no modifier

I asked the billers and they stated they have never used modifiers and I have always used modifiers.

Please help!!!!!
 
You cannot bill a 99285 ( ER Visit) and a 99204New patient/Outpatient on the same day It is one or the other and as for the procedures I would assume you would have to bill a 25 Modifier and bill them with a different dx.
 
Be careful of physician and billers coding, if they are not coders...

I don't normally code ophthalmology, and don't attempt to code procedures without an op note so I will not comment on the accuracy of the procedure codes billed. That said, I see three major E/M errors here that need to be addressed if you are to be paid correctly.

1.) You are billing for two E/M services (99204 & 99285) in each example, which I am assuming are for the same patient, doctor and date of service since you have stated that they are based on a claim submission. E/M coding guidelines will only allow one E/M service to be billed on each date of service, per TIN and physician specialty or subspecialty. If you are billing all of these codes under one doctor then you will never get paid as it stands. You would need to combine the documentation from both visits to bill one E/M code.

2.) There are also place of service issues with the E/M codes that you are using. You are billing one E/M code (99204) for a new patient visit in an office/outpatient setting, and the other (99285) which is an emergency department visit code. Even if the patient was seen in the office and then again in the ER on the same day, by the same physician or another under the same TIN and specialty, you still cannot bill two E/M codes. You would need to combine the documentation from both visits to bill one E/M code, using the E/M code set that is best suited for the location where the services were rendered.

3.) E/M services are included in the reimbursement for all services billed with the surgical section of CPT when the E/M is performed on the same day or within the global period of the procedure that is performed. Since both examples have multiple procedure codes billed, the E/M reimbursement would be included in the reimbursement for those procedures unless your documentation clearly supports the use of an E/M modifier, most likely 25 (since 24 does not apply and you have not coded for a major procedure (90-day global) to justify a 57). Two of the 3 procedure codes you have noted, 67840 and 68840, have a 10-day global period so all E/M services performed on the day of and the immediate 10 days after are covered under the procedure reimbursement. I would read up (and have your billers read up) on the appropriate use of all of the common CPT modifiers - 24, 25, 50, 51, 57, 58, 59, 78 and 79 to start - and familiarize yourself on situations speicifc to your office when they are appropriate, if you are not already familiar. I would also caution against the overuse of modifier 25 since this modifier has been on the OIG hit list for several years and may trigger an audit.

Hope all of this helps you, your billers and doctors, and most importantly your reimbursement!

One last note, here is a link to a good article about the appropriate use of the 99281-99285 emergency department E/M codes.

http://www.findacode.com/medicare/p...-medicare-info.php?type=ARTICLE&type_id=42979
 
FWIW, everybody is misreading the original post. There were no ER E&Ms. The listed CPT was 92285, not 99285.

I am not familiar with Opthamology, but there are no CCI edits that would require a modifier for the listed codes.
 
Suggest you look carefully at remittance advices for remark codes that define reason for denial and also whether payments were correctly applied. Though no NCCI edits exist, the necessity of the 99204 E/M service may be questioned in conjunction with the procedures noted. Be sure the level is supported both in key components or time spent counseling and/or coordinating care and that there is medical necessity for the level of service (do not include typical pre-service work of procedures such as obtaining consent, evaluation of site, etc.). See also local coverage decisions for the photography to be sure that it is supported.
 
Hi,

I'm not too familiar with Ophthalmology, but isn't 92002-92004 (new pt) and 92012-92014 (est pt) the codes for the evaluation. I do not think you can bill regular E/M codes (99201-99205/99211-99215) for Ophthalmological services...
 
As I am not to familiar with Ophthalmology myself, but looking into the CPT book, they have their own New and Established Patient codes. 92002-92004(New Patient) and 92012-92014(Established Patient). Also CPT code 68840 has a 10 day global period attached to it. I would append a 25 modifier to the E&M codes.
 
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